Bat-baby
by YAY13
Summary: Damian has died and the manor feels empty. Then a strange parcel changes everything. It gives life to the manor and teaches Bruce how to be a proper father. Now Bruce must struggle through his new life with criminals and murderers at every turn. Includes some fluff but mostly family. I hope you like it. K because I'm paranoid. Contains lots of DC characters, not just Batman ones!
1. Chapter 1

Lightening flashed across the sky. Thunder clapped in a vain attempted to be heard over the pounding of the viscous rain. Each drop hurt like a bullet and sounded just as loud. It was one of the few nights that highlighted Wayne manor in all it's Gothic glory. No one who valued their life would be out in that weather and no one who didn't know the manor wouldn't be terrified by the very idea of walking up to the black house. It's black roof reached up into the sky of one of the worst storms Gotham had ever had. Even the light from the hostilely curtained windows did little to brighten the dark swirling clouds that had engulfed the city.

Inside the warm house, lit up by soft, welcoming, lighting, Alfred was checking all the windows of the manor were shut tight. He was downstairs, the masters upstairs. He had checked on them a few minutes ago. Dick was caught in a restless sleep, the name of his fallen younger brother on his lips. Bruce wasn't asleep. He was silently sitting at his desk, listening to the howls of the storm and feeling as if he life was caught in the turmoil of the violent and raging wind. He was staring at a photo that hung opposite to his desk. It was of Dick, Jason, Tim and Damian when Bruce had finally managed to get them all together and looking presentable. Alfred had left him like that. Alfred knew that, during the storms that seemed to have descended on Gotham recently, the masters had had no patrol to lose themselves in and hide from the memories of Damian. Alfred forced himself to work as he remembered Bruce returning home with the news that Damian, the son of the great Batman, the boy who had been struggling to become a better person, had been killed. Alfred pulled a curtain back to check the windows were closed and watched as lightening once again violated the sky. He let the curtain fall over the window and continued down the corridor. He had nearly reached the door when he heard a noise, a simple knocking noise coming from the door. At first he forced himself to ignore it and believe it was a trick in the storm. Slowly Alfred's hand closed around the door handle. He didn't even know why he was doing it but decided he could do no harm in checking that no one was outside. It would be horrible for someone to be left out in the storm. He opened the door and a wave of rain hit him. He couldn't see anyone in the storm and saw the driveway in a lightening flash. He was about to close the door when he heard an almost inaudible rustling sound coming from the ground in front of him. He glanced down and saw a waterproof coat lying on the ground. It had been placed over something. Alfred reached down and saw the bottom of a basket under the coat. He pulled it up and gasped as he saw what was underneath it. He scooped up the basket and carried it inside, hurrying to find Bruce.

A figure watched from the trees that surrounded the large driveway. They were wearing a mask that covered the top half of their face, almost like a cowl. They were using the shadows as a cloak. They didn't notice the rain falling around them as they watched Alfred look about. They pulled back in to make sure they weren't seen as they continued to watch. Seeing Alfred pick up the basket and disappear inside, they smiled and disappeared back into the shadows.

Bruce snapped out of his moping the moment he heard Alfred calling for him. He raced to the door and opened it just as a dripping wet Alfred ran in. He was holding a basket and was clearly distressed.

"Master Bruce, something has happened." Alfred said, looking into the basket. "Someone has left a basket on the doorstep and I think that it demands your attention immediately."

"What's in it? Is it a bomb? Or some sort of chemical weapon?"

"Something like that." Alfred said and angled the blanket down.

Inside was a little baby. The baby was asleep and was clearly a new born. They were wrapped in a spotless white blanket and had a note resting beside the black hair that capped their large head. Bruce looked at it and wondered why it couldn't have just been a bomb.

To Be Continued!


	2. Chapter 2

I still don't own Batman or any of the others but if I did everyone would know about it!

* * *

Dick woke up to the sound of crying. He slowly made his way down the stairs, following the sound. He gasped as he saw Alfred holding a little baby with black hair. The baby was crying and wriggling madly.

"Has Bruce been turned into a baby again?" Dick asked.

Then he saw Bruce standing in the corner. Bruce shook his head as he walked towards a counter and began to work on a portable touch screen computer from the Batcave. Dick scooped the baby from Alfred and let his elder get the bottle of milk he had been after. He put the bottle in the microwave and turned it on.

"So, who is this?" Dick questioned, tickling the baby's tummy in an attempt to cheer it up.

Bruce looked at the screen in front of him. He began to read it out.

"She's a healthy baby girl of eight pounds, thirteen ounces. She's got black hair, blue eyes and whoever abandoned her on our doorstep knows I'm Batman." Bruce said, holding up the note.

Dick took it and read it. It had been written out on a computer and was very simple. Dick looked at Bruce and then proceeded to read the note out.

"Look after my baby girl. She has no name. She's ten days old. Look after her, Batman."

Dick worked out when that made the baby's birthday and smiled at her. She had calmed down by the time Alfred took her off him to feed her.

"So what are we meant to do with a baby?" Dick asked.

A hour later Leslie Thompson was casting her expert eye over the baby. Dick was holding the squirming child and offering Leslie awkward smiles. Alfred had found some baby clothes from when Bruce had been born and the baby, much smaller than Bruce when he had been a baby, was swamped in the old fashioned baby boy clothes. To help however, Alfred had found the safer toys from Bruce's baby toys, cleaned them up and positioned them in the now baby-proof living room. Bruce was making calls, trying to track down the things a baby needed. Currently Tim was bring a large selection of nappies and baby food and Jason was hunting for teddies, toys and clothes. They hadn't asked questions. No one had, finding a baby on the doorstep had not given them much cause for concern. Leslie smiled as Dick bounced the baby up and Bruce came in.

"You're right. She's healthy and safe. I don't think she has any meta genes or possible super powers but they could occur at a later age. Still, she's the cutest little thing I've ever seen." Leslie said.

The baby had fallen asleep in Dick's arms and Bruce made a mental note to have someone hunt down a cot for the little girl. He stood up to take her off but then Leslie said something that stopped him.

"So what's her name?" Leslie asked.

Bruce looked at Dick and both realised they hadn't given it a moment's thought. Dick looked down at the little girl and then handed her to Alfred.

"We better get onto finding names for her then."

"She's not ours." Bruce said, watching as Dick worked on the computer.

Leslie has returned to her clinic and Alfred was looking after the baby upstairs, having decided that letting her down into the cave was too dangerous. He was looking after the baby and feeding her with yet another bottle of milk.

"I know." Dick said and then continued anyway. "We can't just call her baby."

He was looking through lists of names on the Batcomputer, having searched the internet for baby girl names.

"What about Abigail?" Dick suggested.

Bruce shook his head.

"She's not ours!" Bruce repeated.

Dick continued to work on the computer and suggested a few other names. Bruce ignored them. "Dick, she was abandoned on our doorstep. We're looking to find out who left the baby on our doorstep so we can return her to her family."

"Amelia?" Dick asked.

Bruce stopped and smiled at the name. Dick read Bruce's face like a book and smiled.

"Amelia it is." Dick said.

He hurried upstairs to inform the others of the name of Amelia.


	3. Chapter 3

Bruce sighed as Amelia lay on the floor. Dick had made a point of looking after Amelia like he normally did with his brothers. He was playing with her and Bruce was talking with Alfred.

"Jason and Tim are trying to collect baby things and Lucius is trying to create a cot that's criminal proof." Bruce said. "Once we work out the baby's parentage then we'll be able to return her safely to her family."

"She was abandoned here for a reason." Alfred said, watching as Dick lay on the floor, watching the girl.

He was lying and facing Amelia, his blue eyes staring into hers. Both of them had their arms resting on the floor beside them.

"Maybe she is like the other lost young children who have found a home in Wayne manor." Alfred finished.

Tim and Jason arrived at the manor at the same time. Both climbed off their motorbikes and stared at Lucius' car.

"So you got the call about collecting baby things as well." Jason said with an angry frown.

He produced a bag of baby clothes and teddy bears.

"Which one do you think has been turned into a baby?"

"Probably Dick." Tim said.

He pulled a large rucksack off his back and checked that all the baby food was intact. He guessed that the nappies would be fine in their plastic wrapping but he didn't want his bag to be stained with baby food.

"I wonder who did it." Jason asked as he knocked on the door.

Tim guessed that they would be able to deal with a little baby. No one came to the door but Dick's voice called through the corridor that his brothers should come in and that the door was unlocked. "Not Dick then." Tim said as he pushed the door open.

To both heroes it felt strange. The corridors of the manor reminded them of Damian. Although the memories weren't the most pleasant for the two of them, Damian was still their brother. It was one of the first times they had come back since Damian's death and it left them both feeling a bit empty. Then they heard a noise from the other room.

"She must like your smell, Dick." they heard Lucius say.

Appearing in the doorway, they saw Dick standing there, silently cheering up a crying baby. Tim looked around for Bruce and frowned as he saw him.

"Who is this?" Tim asked, walking in and taking the baby.

The baby almost seemed unsure for a few seconds and then didn't cry, falling asleep in Tim's arms. Dick smiled and took Amelia from Tim. He moved towards a metal frame that soon become apparent it was a cot. He placed Amelia in and smiled as the light that hung over the cot stayed green. Tim looked at Dick and then at the cot.

"That's a great design."

"Lucius made it. It's got a camera in the front. If it sees someone who is deemed as a threat then it closes up and stops them at getting to her." Bruce whispered back, looking back at the baby.

Lucius beamed in pride at the design and Tim saw the small camera in the delicately metal robin that was on the top of the cot, just below the green light. Tim turned back to Dick and repeated his earlier question.

"Amelia." Dick replied with a father-like beam.

Jason slowly moved forwards, seeming a bit scared of the child. He looked at Bruce and frowned. He held out the bag that contained the baby clothes he had collected.

"We have a problem." Jason said.

Bruce opened the bag and frowned. All the baby clothes that Jason had got were for boys.

Amelia had adopted a little blue teddy bear in her cot and Alfred had awoken her from her nap to give her milk to allow Bruce and Dick to move the cot into the nursery. The nursery was the room next to Bruce's. It was easy to protect and fitted with CCTV cameras. Jason and Tim helped Bruce and Dick make the room baby-proof and set up toys. Jason was putting all manner of teddy bears and cuddly toy animals on shelves and on the floor near the cot, while Tim folded clothes neatly into a chest of draws.

"It'll be good to finally get Amelia into a nappy." Dick said.

Already the incidents had been coming thick and fast. Tim looked at Bruce and frowned. While they prepared the room, a couple of things had crossed his mind.

"What are you going to say? To the outside world will Amelia be Amelia Wayne, Grayson, Pennyworth or none of the above?"

"To the outside world, the baby won't exist. This is only temporary until we find her parents or other family. Then the baby will be moving into their care and will be safe." Bruce said, keeping emotion out of his voice.

Dick looked at his two brothers and watched as Bruce left. Tim was about to go after him but his elders stopped him.

"He needs his space." Dick said.

He continued to stack nappies in the corner of the room.

"How do you even use one of these?"

He was holding the nappy up and staring at it. Jason looked as Tim as the younger moved away from the door, his head hanging. He looked at Dick, knowing that if one of his two brothers was going to understand it was likely to be Dick.

"Haven't you noticed that Bruce is the only one who hasn't bonded with Amelia? He even calls her the baby." Tim pointed out.

Dick looked at Jason as they shared a look about what to do. Jason felt tempted to help out but changed his mind and continued to rearrange teddy bears. Any attempt at seeming emotionless and hard-core was lost by the action Jason had lost himself in. Tim let his gaze fall only on Dick.

"Well, Timmy, it's hard for him. He's lost Damian and now there's another kid in his life who he thinks will be in danger if he bonds with them. It's easier for him to keep his distance, at least until he's ready to get over Damian."

"What happens if he's never ready?" Tim asked. "Is Amelia meant to wait forever?"

"Timmy, I don't think that Bruce wants to keep Amelia. He wants to find her parents as soon as possible and make sure she's safe."

It was the night after the storm. Bruce and Dick had been on a long and hard patrol that night. They had been clearing up the mess left by the storm as well as hunting down the criminals who had committed crimes in it's chaos. Both were exhausted but, instead of going to bed, both had other things to do. Bruce sat himself in front of the computer in the cave, working quickly and searching for hospital admittances that might have led to Amelia's birth. Dick disappeared up the stairs and found himself staring at Alfred. The baby was in the butler's arms, silent and content. Dick felt his exhaustion evaporate as he took Amelia in his arms.

"How's my little girl?" Dick asked, cradling the baby close. "Shouldn't you be going to bed?" Amelia stayed silent and Dick took it as a yes. He carried the baby up the stairs.

Dick slowly climbed into bed and laid there for a few seconds. He enjoyed the peaceful silence. Bruce would be coming up to bed soon but Dick knew his mentor would move silently. He began to think about what he would do with Amelia. The rest of the Bat-family didn't know about her but they would soon find out. Maybe he should tell Barbara so she could help them out with the motherly stuff. Maybe he should... Dick was pulled from his thoughts by a whimper that grew into a cry. He sighed and got to his feet. Slowly he went to find Amelia.

* * *

It's been a while, I hope this makes up for it.


End file.
